Vehicles for transporting waste are expensive and important components in the control of waste. As municipalities and industry grow, the waste generated by them also grows. Moreover, environmental concerns of a growing population and dwindling land supply combine to limit the size of garbage dumps. Thus, to combat the ever-increasing volume of waste, waste recycling trucks are becoming increasingly important and receiving extensive attention due to widespread efforts to minimize the waste intended for garbage dumps by increasing the amount of recyclable material.
Recycling trucks are different from conventional refuse disposal trucks in both function and design. For example, refuse trucks hold waste material that is not recyclable and are typically loaded through a single compartment in the rear of the truck. Conversely, recycling trucks; hold waste material that is specially processed and then reused, including materials such as glass, aluminum, paper, tin and plastic and are generally loaded through compartments located on one side of the truck. Recycling trucks may also be used to contain yard waste material, such as grass clippings, tree trimmings and mulch.
A variety of recycling trucks are known. Most of these recycling trucks are separate from the refuse disposal trucks. However, at least one recycling truck is known which houses both refuse and recyclable materials. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,271 ('271) discloses a structurally modified vehicle with both a rearwardly loaded compactor section for refuse and an apparatus for recyclable material. The recycling apparatus in that patent includes a pair of lower and upper containers that are located on both sides of the vehicle. Each lower container includes a side opening and each upper container has a top opening. Recyclable material is loaded into the lower container through the side opening. The lower container is then emptied by hydraulically lifting and inverting it above the upper container to align the respective openings for transferring material between the containers.
While the aforementioned '271 vehicle holds both refuse and recyclable materials, there are problems associated with its use. For example, the '271 vehicle has been structurally modified to accommodate the recycling equipment which is both costly and time-consuming to implement. Moreover, the lower container of the '271 recycling apparatus has limited storage room and must frequently be emptied into the upper container. This is both inefficient and time-consuming. These and other disadvantages with the above-mentioned refuse/recycling truck preclude widespread acceptance or usage.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a combination vehicle for simultaneously transporting both refuse and recyclable material.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a combination vehicle for transporting refuse and recyclable material that has not been structurally modified.
Yet another object of the present invention to provide a combination vehicle for transporting refuse and recyclable material which is economical to operate.